INDIANAPOLIS — After lawsuits and months of residents being at risk of having their utilities shut off, some Indianapolis apartment complexes have been sold to new management.
The mandatory legal deal was part of a three way lawsuit by the City of Indianapolis, Attorney General's Office and Citizens Energy.
The deal means residents at Capital Place, Woods at Oak Crossing, Covington Square and Berkley Commons won't have to move.
Berkley Commons sold last monthand the city announced the sale of the other three properties on Friday.
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“The sale of these buildings is a victory for tenants, who too often faced the threat of eviction because of an irresponsible landlord," Mayor Joe Hogsett said in a statement. "The City of Indianapolis will continue to do whatever is in our power to protect tenants and families.”
New management with no ties to previous owners must take over.
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In February, the city paid $850,000 to restore services for residents at Capitol Place and Berkley Commons. The water had been shut off after the owners failed to pay Citizens, even though landlords at both complexes had been collecting utility bill money from tenants.
"JPC is a nonprofit organization. They promised to provide housing under that status. They delivered inadequate substandard housing and that's never the deal," Attorney General Todd Rokita said in September.
WRTV Investigates has been following this story for months andin September traveled to Ohio to get answers from management.
In a statement from Citizens Energy Group, JPC owed Citiens nearly $2 million in past due utility bills across the four properties. In 2022, Citizens received $784,747.01 from JPC from a settlement agreement. According to Citizens, they have received an additional $1,050,047.92 from JPC after the sale of their remaining three properties.
"Throughout the past two years, Citizens’ primary goals have been to prevent utility disruption to the JPC apartment residents and to protect our customer base from bearing the full cost of JPC’s mounting debt. We are pleased both of these goals have been met with the resolution of JPC’s debt," Citizens said. "Citizens appreciates the efforts of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Attorney General Todd Rokita toward resolving this matter."
